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Crashed McLaren F1 is the saddest way to see its beautiful underbody

Friends, this is why we can't have nice things. A McLaren F1 was flipped down an embankment in Italy yesterday, and this video of the crash's aftermath is about as sad as when Old Yeller was shot. According to Italy's La Nazione, this one-off, red-on-white F1 was crashed during a four-F1 tour between the towns of Saline di Volterra and Pomarance in the province of Pisa. It's unclear what caused the driver to lose control and invert our British hero on a grassy hill, although as this is a McLaren F1, we wouldn't be remotely surprised if speed ended up being a factor. YouTuber Marchettino, an Autoblog reader and well-known source of videos from Ferrari's Fiorano test track, was on the scene to capture the video available below. The footage shows the McLaren accelerating away, only to cut away to the aftermath of the wreck. Emergency personnel were tasked with righting the stricken hypercar, a process that was accompanied by the cringe-worthy cracking of its Peter Stevens-designed bodywork. At least they had the decency to cover the crumpled Brit with its fitted black cover as they loaded it onto a flatbed, a fitting yet somehow disturbing visual. According to reports, the driver and passenger were airlifted from the scene with non-lethal injuries, and both are recovering in a hospital. Given the rising worth and rarity of F1s, despite the extensive damage in evidence, we reckon that this won't be the last the world sees of this special car. Take a look below to view the video. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. News Source: La Nazione, Marchettino via YouTube, Jalopnik McLaren Coupe Performance Classics Videos

McLaren celebrates 20 years of Mobil 1 with special livery for Australian GP

Sponsors come and sponsors go in Formula One, but they tend to stick around awhile at McLaren. The team ran under Marlboro title sponsorship for 22 years from 1974 to 1996, and Hugo Boss has been with the team for 33 years now since 1981. But it's the team's partnership with Mobil 1 which it will celebrate with the sinister livery pictured here. With Vodafone having left the team at the end of last season, McLaren is without a title sponsor for this season, and was expected to return to its heritage orange livery for this year's championship. But instead it's starting the season at the Australian Grand Prix with this silver and black livery to celebrate two decades of partnership with ExxonMobil. It may not be quite as sweet as the new Williams Martini Racing livery, but it is pretty slick. Whether it stands a chance of finishing on the podium this weekend, however, is another matter. While McLaren has won the Australian Grand Prix a dozen times – more than any other team – and Jenson Button is one of the winningest drivers in the history of the Aussie race, he and the team haven't been showing too well in pre-season testing. Mobil 1 and McLaren Celebrate 20-Year Partnership in Formula 1 As the 2014 Formula 1 season kicks off this weekend at the Australian Grand Prix, ExxonMobil and McLaren will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of their technical and commercial relationship. In honor of the major milestone, the McLaren Formula 1 cars will feature a special livery in Australia that will include both Mobil 1™ and Mobil™ brands." "To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Mobil 1's relationship with McLaren, we are looking forward to showcasing a special branding scheme during the first race of the 2014 season," said Artis Brown, global motorsports manager, Mobil 1. "There is a lot of energy entering this race. Not only are we celebrating our 20th anniversary with McLaren, but we will be welcoming Kevin Magnussen to the team. When you combine these elements with the introduction of the new V-6 engine, this should be a very exciting weekend." Jonathan Neale, Chief Operating Officer and Acting CEO of McLaren Mercedes said, "We are privileged to have worked closely with ExxonMobil over a very successful 20 years and counting. During 332 races together we have achieved four world championships, 78 wins, 229 podium finishes and 76 pole positions, which is testament to our powerful technology partnership.

Fernando Alonso expects to retire after McLaren-Honda

When Fernando Alonso was three years old, his father gave him a model of a McLaren-Honda grand prix car. That's where his path to Formula One started, and it's where he wants his career to end as well. Speaking with Autosport, the two-time world champion indicated that he intends to retire after he's done at McLaren, rather than switch to another team. Of course, he didn't indicate just when that would be, but as far as he's concerned, the road ends in Woking. The highly rated and immensely successful Spanish driver has been on the grid for fourteen years now. He started out with Minardi (precursor to Toro Rosso) in 2001, then spent four seasons with Renault, where he scored back-to-back world titles. He then switched to McLaren for one year, where he won four races, then back to Renault for another three where he and the team fell off their form. Fernando subsequently switched to Ferrari where he spent the last five seasons, thrice finishing second in the world championship but never quite managing to clinch an elusive third title. This year he's back at McLaren but has had a bumpy start. After crashing during a pre-season test session, he sat out the season opener, and failed to finish the second round in Malaysia. He's now in Shanghai preparing for this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix. Like this writer, he'll be turning 34 in July, making him the fourth oldest driver on the grid this year. So he's still got a good few years in him, and will likely want to see the troubled rekindling of the McLaren-Honda partnership through to winning form. But while nobody can tell what the future will bring, it looks like any other team that hopes to lure the champ away could end up disappointed.